7) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place in the last 18 months.

The advisor of each PhD candidate along with the appropriate committee was asked to assess the candidate at three critical points (qualifying exam, comprehensive exam, defense) with respect to the performance questions

1) SLO1:Theory

2) SLO1:Methodology

3) SLO2:Oral Communication

4) SLO2:Written Communication

5) SLO3:Original Research

6) Overall Assessment.

by using the scoring rubrics

1) Unacceptable

2) Marginal

3) Acceptable

4) Exceptional

5) Not Applicable.

8) What types of evidence did the program use as part of the assessment activities checked in question 6? (Check all that apply.)

Direct evidence of student learning (student work products)

Artistic exhibition/performance Assignment/exam/paper completed as part of regular coursework and used for program-level assessment Capstone work product (e.g., written project or non-thesis paper) Exam created by an external organization (e.g., professional association for licensure) Exit exam created by the program IRB approval of research Oral performance (oral defense, oral presentation, conference presentation) Portfolio of student work Publication or grant proposal Qualifying exam or comprehensive exam for program-level assessment in addition to individual student evaluation (graduate level only) Supervisor or employer evaluation of student performance outside the classroom (internship, clinical, practicum) Thesis or dissertation used for program-level assessment in addition to individual student evaluation Other 1: Other 2:

14) Please briefly describe how the program used the results.

The results show that SLO1, SLO2, and SLO3 are met at an acceptable level or better. The results also show that the overall performance of the EE PhD program is acceptable or better. These results do not raise any red flags in any area, which suggests that no drastic actions need to be taken at this point. The results will be shared with the graduate committee, and discussions will take place to find ways of continually improving the EE PhD program.

15) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries? This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, and great achievements regarding program assessment in this reporting period.

An assessment method for SLO4 ``Function as a professional in the discipline’’ needs to be developed. One of the ILOs (currently being developed by the Graduate Division) is strongly aligned with SLO4. The graduate committee decided to wait until the ILOs are finalized so that the indicators for the ILOs can be used to assess SLO4.

The graduate committee worked on closing the loop from the assessment results to actual actions in order to continually improve the EE PhD program. Accordingly, we are in the process of developing the SLOs for the graduate-level courses.

The assessment questionnaire needs to be updated to clarify the instructions to the faculty.

16) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.